Albano, Felician Win CACC Men's Cross-Country Titles
PHILADELPHIA – The Felician College men's cross-country team placed six runners in the top 12 in winning the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference team title at the league championship meet on Sunday morning at Fairmount Park's Belmont Plateau. It was the second consecutive conference crown for Felician and the ninth in the program's 12-year history. Golden Falcon junior Rob Albano (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock Township) was the individual champion.
Albano traversed the 8,000-meter course in 26 minutes, 35.54 seconds. He broke free from runner-up and 2010 champion Bill Steele of Wilmington (Del.) University on the final loop, winning the race by 10 seconds. Albano fell a fraction of a second short of the meet record, set by Felician's Paul Chegwidden with a 26:34.88 in 2007. For his efforts, Albano was named CACC Runner of the Year, Felician's fifth on the men's side all-time.
With 25 points, Felician, ranked seventh regionally, won the team title by 42 points over runner-up and event host Philadelphia University. Wilmington placed third with 71 points.
"Every year is a new challenge," said 10th-year Felician coach John Brennan. "We knew Philadelphia and Wilmington were good teams and that we had to keep ourselves focused. The biggest key for us is that our guys didn't stray from the style that had gotten them results all season long. It's not just another race, but their preparation was the same as any other race."
All six Felician entrants who completed the race attained all-CACC status, which is automatically accorded to the first 15 finishers. The Golden Falcons claimed three of the top four racers. Junior Taylor Trumbetti (Montvale, NJ/Pascack Hills) made his second all-conference team, placing third in 26:58. Senior James Vander Wiele (Pequannock, NJ/Pequannock Township) (4th, 27:19), Felician's previous league Runner of the Year in 2008, became the third male in school history to make four all-CACC teams. The race saw 70 entries.
Junior Tim Kicha (Saddle Brook, NJ/Saddle Brook) (8th, 28:06) and freshman Keenan Huggins-Filozof (Farmingdale, NJ/Freehold Township) (9th, 28:08) rounded out the scoring positions for the Golden Falcons. Also earning all-CACC honors, and able to raise the point totals of those running behind him, was freshman Stephen Omari (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East). Brennan was named CACC Coach of the Year for the sixth time, and the Golden Falcons won their first CACC Team Sportsmanship Award.
TEAM STANDINGS
|
1. |
Felician |
1 |
3 |
4 |
8 |
9 |
-- |
22 |
|
2. |
Philadelphia |
5 |
10 |
11 |
15 |
26 |
-- |
67 |
|
3. |
Wilmington |
2 |
6 |
18 |
22 |
23 |
-- |
71 |
|
4. |
Bloomfield |
7 |
25 |
31 |
35 |
41 |
-- |
139 |
|
5. |
Holy Family |
13 |
14 |
34 |
39 |
47 |
-- |
147 |
|
6. |
Nyack |
16 |
29 |
32 |
33 |
44 |
-- |
154 |
|
7. |
Goldey-Beacom |
20 |
21 |
37 |
38 |
42 |
-- |
158 |
|
8. |
U-Sciences |
19 |
27 |
36 |
43 |
45 |
-- |
170 |
|
9. |
Chestnut Hill |
17 |
40 |
52 |
66 |
70 |
-- |
245 |
|
10. |
Post |
56 |
57 |
58 |
59 |
64 |
-- |
294 |
|
11. |
Concordia |
54 |
61 |
63 |
67 |
69 |
-- |
314 |
RUNNER OF THE YEAR: Rob Albano, Felician
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Tim Malloy, Philadelphia
COACH OF THE YEAR: John Brennan, Felician
TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD: Felician
